The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | November 27th, 2023: Israel Extends Hamas Truce & Tensions Flare In The South China Sea

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:     Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their fragile truce for another two days. We discuss what this means for the hostages in Gaza and the broader implications for the Israel-Palestine conflict. Tensions flared this weekend in the South China Sea after China drove an American warship from the disputed waters and accused the U.S. of jeopardizing stability in the region.    Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.     Email: [e-mail].  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Monday, November 22nd. Welcome to the PBB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll begin today's afternoon bulletin with an update on the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel and the extension that will likely see more hostages released in the coming days. We'll also look at the South China Sea, where tensions flared this weekend, after China

made moves to force an American warship from the United States. the disputed waters, and in a classic G-regime move, accused the U.S. of jeopardizing stability in the region. But first, our afternoon spotlight. The temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is now in its fourth day. The pause in fighting was officially set to expire on Monday evening, but it appears now likely to be extended at least another two days. First, a quick update on the hostage releases.

Since the guns first went silent on Friday, 39 Israelis, many holding dual citizenship and all women and children, have been returned to Israel from Gaza. One final group of hostages is expected to be released today, although there was a dispute between Israel and Hamas over who exactly will be released. In addition to the Israelis who have been released, 19 additional hostages, mostly Thai nationals, were also freed as part of a separate agreement. As we reported earlier today, the youngest hostage released was Abigail Eden, a four-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen whose parents were murdered by Hamas terrorists during the 7-October attacks. On the other side of the equation, Israel has released.

released 117 Palestinian prisoners, with around 40 more scheduled for release today. An Israeli spokesperson said that they believe 184 hostages remain in Gaza, including 14 foreigners and 80 with dual Israeli nationality. Now, assuming all goes to plan, this truce is going to be extended for at least another two days. If you'll remember, the possibility of an extension was part of the initial agreement, and that agreement outlined that ten hostages could be released for every additional day of a pause in the fighting. Hamas first publicly declared their openness to an extension on Sunday. In a telegram post, the group wrote, quote,

The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas seeks to extend the truce after the four-day period ends through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment, as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu also expressed his support for an extension in exchange for more hostages, though he reaffirmed that Israel would return with full force when the truce expires to eliminate Habbas. Now, we've mentioned this before on the PDB, but restarting military operations in Gaza after this temporary pause in the action, while operationally necessary to meet the objective of destroying Hamas,

will at the same time play into the hands of Hamas, meaning that Hamas, Iran, and others, will only increase their efforts to portray Israel as the guilty party here. And, frankly, there will be people stupid enough, or, well, let's go with naive enough, to buy their propaganda. The reality is, if the conflict does not result in the removal of Hamas, Then the region will be condemned to simply more of the same. Israel will be facing the same terrorist threat along its border.

The people of Gaza will continue to be governed by the same opportunistic corrupt organization that cares nothing about dead Palestinians, and the region will be no closer to a possible long-term peace. All right, coming up after the break. The U.S. and China traded Barbes this weekend after China made aggressive moves to force a U.S. warship from the disputed waters of the South China Sea. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the PDB afternoon bulletin. China's military challenged a U.S. warship navigating through the South China Sea on Saturday in an incident that is aggravating an already tense situation in the

disputed region. Chinese officials accused the USS Hopper, a guided missile destroyer, of illegally entering their territorial waters near the Paracel Islands, in a move they claim, quote, proves that the United States is an out-and-out security risk creator in the South China Sea, end quote. The Chinese military deployed their air and naval forces to monitor the vessel and ultimately to drive it away from the area. A spokesperson for the U.S. 7th Fleet responded in a statement to Reuters saying the U.S. was simply asserting their navigational rights in the South China Sea. She noted that the U.S. regularly, quote, challenges excessive maritime claims around the world, regardless of the identity of the claimant,

end quote. Now, the spokesperson added that when it comes to China's actions, quote, unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas. As a reminder, China has long claimed nearly the entire South China Sea as their own, despite its serving as a key channel for some $3 trillion in annual international trade. Chinese claims of ownership run counter to those of other regional players, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. The claims, which the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in 2016, have no legal basis, are also a major point of contention, obviously, between China and the U.S.

While officials from both countries recently discussed these ongoing maritime issues at the Asia-Pacific summit, it would appear that the warm moments shared between President Joe Biden and CCP leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco have done little to thaw U.S. China relations. Xiang Jun Li, a senior colonel for the CCP, lashed out at the U.S. following the incident on Saturday, calling America the, quote, biggest destroyer of peace and stability in the South China Sea. Apparently, the colonel is not factoring Xi Jinping's chronic harassment of Taiwan into that assessment. The mounting tension between the U.S. and China comes as the broader regional situation has showed signs of fracture. The Philippines and Australia began their first joint patrols in the disputed waters on Saturday

amid intensifying rhetoric aimed at the Philippines by CCP leaders. And this followed a similar exercise by U.S. forces and the Philippine military just last week. Now, Chinese leaders are also growing increasingly anxious over the shifting political sands in Taiwan, which could see a more U.S.-friendly candidate lead a coalition government come their election in January. All right, following the recent summit, California between President Biden and Xi. One of the touted positive results was the supposed resumption of direct military-to-military communications between the two nations. That critical comms channel was suspended when Xi threw his teddy out of the crib over a U.S. delegation's

visit led by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. This incident over the weekend involving the USS Hopper is a perfect example as to why it is imperative that the U.S. and China ensure that there is consistent and effective communications between the world's two most powerful militaries. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, 27 November. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.